Political Memes

I've been accused of being a centrist, despite basically being to the left of everyone in American politics, and I think it's because people tend to over-weight the economic left/right spectrum (or project other non-economic issues onto the left/right spectrum), and not place enough effort into thinking through:

• Ideological purity versus pragmatic deal-making.
• Actual governance skill, kinda a technocratic versus populist view.
• When and where it's appropriate to break the law to accomplish goals, like the lawfu-to-chaotic alignment in the D&D memes.

None of that is left/right or centrist in itself, but my positions (pragmatic, technocratic, lawful) sometimes put me at odds with other voices on the left.

Other criteria that don't map onto left/right include authenticity, consistency/predictability, coherence across issues, and plain old network connections, and political effectiveness (influencing the public and other politicians to follow your lead on issues).

Mamdani is awesome because he exudes authenticity (like, I'm not a Knicks fan but he can give a great mayor's speech for his favorite team winning), gets things done (actual stuff around city governance, like snow shoveling), and seems to know how to get policy passed (working with Hochul to get some big ticket legislation on taxing the rich accomplished, even if it will contain some compromises). He is, in other words, an effective politician. We need more people like him scattered throughout different jurisdictions.

I will gladly support a coalition of centrists and leftists to move things to the left, especially if they can flank the current Republican party on plain old competence and honesty/fairness in governance.